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A 



REVIEW 



OF 



A REPLY TO A PAPER, 



Which Included 



The Sketch oe Two Lives. 



h 



NORFOLK, VA. 



AN EXPLANATION 



On October 10, 1882, in a brief card, I stated that at my earliest conven- 
ience I would review, "a Keply to a sketch of tTwo Lives, issued the day 
previous, and I asked those who received copies of the " Reply " to preserve 
them, that they might judge for themselves, when I answered u the forced 
concessions of and the deliberate attempts to conceal the tkuth, " by the 
author of the reply. 

Various causes have delayed the publication of the "Review," principally 
the tax on my time required by my business duties, and the pressure of 
Vork in my job department, preventing its printing. I had hoped to issue 
it on the 18th anniversary of the fall of Fort Fisher, 15th January last, be- 
cause of the associations 'connected with that date, and the period of eight 
• years preceding it, relating to the writer of this paper and the author of the 
Reply a period in the history of two lives, that is rich with the devo- 
tion of a youth towards a man, who afterwards repaid that devotion with 
the basest ingratitude. • 

With this explanation — necessary in order that the delay in publication 
may be understood— I rest satisfied, confident that the conclusion the reader, 
will draw, after a perusal of the " Review," will not be prejudicial to the 
writer. M. GLENN AN. 



m 




ERRATA. 







\!-">. 






A REVIEW • 

-OF- v • 

A Reply to a Sketch of Two Lives. 



Norfolk, Va., January 15th, 1883. 
Eighteenth Anniversary of the Capture of Fort Fisher. 

The task I find myself compelled to enter upon and discharge in reviewing 
the reply of Wiliam Lamb, is to me a most disagreeable one, and yet a duty 
that I owe to myself requires its performance. I sincerely regret it. To 
the man who basely and gratuitously attempted to degrade me I bear no 
malice. Aside from, differing from him in politics, and attacking his course 
in public matters, which I felt my duty as a journalist required, — every 
act of my life towards him was of friendship, although his ingratitude to the 
youth, who had demonstrated for eight years towards him an affection, de- 
votion and love, never equalled— had been such as to warrant and justify a far 
different course. In reviewing his reply, I shall content myself with sustaining 
the assertions made in my "paper" published in the Virginian of the 10th 
of October. For although I have abundant material at my disposal to add to 
the discreditable record of the man whose reply I review, I have neither the 
will nor the inclination to use it. I shall simply confine myself to carrying out 
what I promised in my card of October 10, 1882, viz: exposing, in his reply to 
my paper, William Lamb's "forced concession of," and his "deliberate at- 
tempts to conceal the truth" And now to the work. 

In opening his reply, he attempts to create sympathy and secure credit by 
asserting, that while I was employed in the establishment of which he was a 
proprietor, ' 'he took a deep interest in the lad. He was a native of Ireland 
and of the Catholic faith, and I began my public career ardently battling for 
the equal rights and privileges in our land for his race and his church." 
How much like the demagogue is this ? But he continues, stating, "my 
partner knew my friendship for him and my desire for his promotion, and 
/ distinctly remember that he was promoted. * * I know that it was my pleas- 
ure to do all I could to stimulate his ambition and to improve his mind, and 
if my partner did not pay him higher wages than other lads of his age were 
receiving, my means would have been cheerfully at his disposal for the 
asking. ' ' 

In his infamous card, I had been denounced as an ingrate. I knew the 
object and intention of the use of this term, I had heard it intimated for 
years that this man had educated me, and that he had established me in 



business. The report had been insiduously circulated, to a far greater extent 
than I had knowledge of, and with as I believe, the approval of William 
Lamb. My reason for stating the amount of salary I received while in the 
employment of the establishment of which he was a proprietor, (four dollars 
a week) was to show the hypocrisy of the charge of his assisting my educa- 
tion. I was given employment by his partner, A. F. Leonard Esq.? 
William Lamb was not in Norfolk at the time. The nature of my 
employment was mailing clerk.. The assertion of Lamb, that "I 
distinctly remember that he was promoted," is wholly without foun- 
dation. I was never employed in any other position than that of mailing 
clerk. Therefore I was never promoted. If he took a deep interest in me at 
the time, and exhibited a pleasure to do all he could to ' 'stimulate my ambition 
and to improve my mind," he never demonstrated it in the gift of a single 
book, or the benefit of advice as to what I should do to advance myself. The 
littleness of his apparent intent, and the smallness of his nature, is well por- 
trayed when he sketches his idea of generosity, in remarking "my means 
would have been cheerfully at his disposal for the asking." — Where is his 
blush ? Is it in the attempt to reflect on his partner, "who attended exclu- 
sively to the finance, " for not paying me higher wages. In my paper, I made 
no complaint of my pay, I simply wished to point out that the amount of 
William Lamb's deep friendship and interest for me was the payment, for 
services faithfully rendered, his share of my salary, viz: two dollars a week, 
for nearly four years. This was the total of it. 

He is forced to admit that during the war he was proud of my patriotism, 
He lauds himself with awarding me as soon as he was in position, with the 
highest place in his gift, which was, that as soon as he assumed command of 
Fort Fisher and the adjacent camps, that, although I was a mere boy, he made 
me ' 'Quatermaster Sergeant in command of the teams and transportation. 
much to the surprise of the men who were put under him. ' ' ' 'Such was my 
attachment to him, ' ' he continues, ' 'that had it been possible, I would have 
obtained a commission for him. In appointing a Sutler for the Post, unsolic- 
ited by him, I required the appointee, while supplying all the capital, to 
agree to give Glennan half." 

The one act, (I do not allude to intentions) of generosity in his life, in rela- 
tion to myself, which I believe to have been thoroughly sincere and which 
was unsolicited and unknown to me, was in his appointing a Sutler for the 
Post of Fort Fisher,. the requirement on the part of the Sutler, to share half 
the profits with me. It is true that there were in the end no profits to share, 
and it is true that I gave my assistance to the Sutler. Yet these facts made 
the act of Col. Lamb's none the less sincere, and I do not hesitate to make 
due acknowledgment of the same. My regret in this connection however 
is, that the paragraph in which this act is recorded is not equally as correct 
in all its statements. He states that when he assumed command of Fort 
Fisher and the adjacent camps he made me, although a "mere boy," "Quar- 
termaster Sergeant in command of the teams and transportation, much to 
the surprise of the men who were put under him." 

When William Lamb was in command of Fort St. Phillip, previous to his 



taking command of Fort Fisher and the adjacent camps, I was the Quater- 
tnaster Sergeant, by his appointment of that Post, and when he assumed 
command of Fort Fisher and the adjacent camps, I was the Quatermaster 
Sergeant, not of ' 'teams and transportation' ' but of Fort Fort Fisher and the 
adjacent camps, in all that, appertained to the duties of the position. During 
the frequent illnesses of the Quatermaster, necessitating his absence, even 
during the two great battles, (I think he was absent on both occasions, 
certainly he was during the last), I discharged the duties of Quatermaster, 
as well as the duties of a soldier, one of my last acts being the distribution of 
blankets to the soldiers in the trenches, outside the Fort, on the night pre" 
vious to its capture, and during the shelling from the fleet. If there was- 
surprise at my occupying the position, I never knew it, except it was 
surprise that on account of my youth, and my lameness, the duties of the 
position, heavy and onerous on account of the extent of the Post, were 
thoroughly and faithfully discharged. I was never absent from my post but 
once, then on a ten days furlough, from the time of my enlistment to that 
of my capture. The following letters in this connection will speak for 
themselves. The first is from Col. Geo. Tait. 

Norfolk, Nov. 12, 1882. 
M. GLENNAN Esq. 

Dear Sir: — In reply to your enquiry, I would state that during the parfliof 
my service passe4 at Fort St. Phillip and Fort Fisher, you performed the 
duties of post Quatermaster Sergeant, in a thorough and soldierly manner, 
and enjoyed, as you deserved, the confidence, respect and esteem of the entire 
garrison from the commanding officer down. 

GEO. TAIT. 

The second is from Capt. Geo. D. Parker, who was the Post Adjutant at i 
Fort St. Phillip and Fort Fisher. 

Norfolk, Nov. 15, 1882. 
M. Glennan Esq, 

Dear Sir: — Your communication of Nov. 10th, recieved, in which you ask 
me to "state my impression as to the manner in which you discharged the 
duties of the position of Quartermaster's Sergt. of the forces stationed at 
Fort Fisher and the adjacent camps, and with what satisfaction to the forces 
alluded to." 

No forces in any fort or garrison, ever had a more faithful and efficient 
Quartermaster, than the soldiers of Fort Fisher and adjacent camps had in 
you, nor do I believe there existed in the Confederate States, a command, 
more universally satisfied with their Quartermaster, than were the officers 
and men of Fort Fisher and adjacent camps, with Sergt. Glennan. The com- 
pletion and strength of that strong fort, owes much to your excellent man- 
agement of the Quartermaster's department. 

Eespectfully and truly yours, 

Geo. D. Parker. 

If there was complaint or surprise expressed by the men of Fort Fisher, 
it may have been from Col. Lamb's partiality for me in another matter, the 
solution to which may be found in the following paragraph, from a letter 
received from Lieut. John N. Kelley, the same officer quoted by Col. Lamb 
in his reply, a letter I shall have occasion to refer to again. Lieut. Kelley 
writes: 

"Did you know the "Boys" used to complain a little, among ourselves 

# 



at what we called the Col.'s "great partiality" to you, in letting yon go with 
him in so many of his hold and gallant attacks on the enemy, while onr 
times had to be less frequent. " Possibly it was great "partiality" of this 
kind, on the part of William Lamb, that caused him to term me an in- 
grate. 

For the present I will pass from reviewing his implied kindness to me 
since the war, (which is next in the order of his reply,) so that in keeping in 
the regular order of my sketch, I may show up his base attempt to deny the 
assistance I rendered him, not only in helping him from the field after he was 
desperately wounded, but also my assertion,' ' 'and when a separation after- 
wards took place, and the next day, he found his commander on the desolate 
beach, without shelter or assistance, unnoticed, and uncared for, he secured 
through the assistance of Surgeon General Bizzell, of General Terry's Staff, 
a detail of men from the Federal Army, a detail that was put under his 
charge, and carried his ' 'hero' ' to the hospital, several miles away,, where for 
three days and nights, without rest or relief, he watched by his side, attend- 
ing every want, until Maj. General Whiting, who was also lying wounded 
in the room, commanded, (I should have written requested) one of his* aids 
(Lieut. Gadsden Hazell) to give relief to the boy," 

ft Conscious as I am of William Lamb's knowledge of the correctness of the 
facts thus briefly stated, I must confess amazement at his daring to deny 
this part of my sketch. Low as the man has fallen I had not concieved that 
he would attempt to deny this proof of my affection and devotion for him, 
demonstrated during that period of his life when desperately wounded in 
gallantly defending his Fort he won the proud title of the hero of Fort Fish- 
er, a title that Lhave on all occasions defended his right to. With skillful and 
insinuating plausibility he attempts a task in his effort to deny my asser- 
tions, that to even his own debased nature must have been extremely nause- 
ating. In reviewing this portion of his reply I am compelled to make pub- 
lic an incident with which I was connected, that occurred during the 
desperate fighting that resulted in the capture of the Fort, and but for which 
I could not have been enabled, much as I might have desired, to have been 
constantly at the side of my wounded commander, from the time I found 
him on the beach, until I was forced to part with him on the steamer, 
Before relating the incident I will first summarize his reply so far as it 
directly affects my statement of the facts in this case. He unqualifiedly 
denies my helping him from the field after he was wounded, stating that 
after he was rendered helpless, a soldier assisted him to rise ' 'and putting 
my arm around- his neck, led me to the hospital. I was met by Glennan 
and others on duty there and laid on a couch. They did all that soldiers 
could do for their wounded commander * * * more than one manly face was 
suffused with tears at the sight of the blood gushing from my side. Only 
Glennan regrets what he did for me. * * In the hope Of saving me from cap- 
ture I was carried on a stretcher through a tempest of bullets and 
shells, to Battery Buchanan, by some of the officers. * * * At mid- 
night I .was placed in a small house at Battery Buchanan, and, ex- 
hausted from the loss of blood, I fell into a fevered sleep,, surrounded 



by a few devoted friends. Glennan teas not with me." (I italicize). He then 
gives his version of being carried on a stretcher to Genl. Terry's Head Quar- 
ters — and his interview with that gallant officer, and his request ' 'to be sent 
where Genl. Whiting was lying wounded. After quite a journey in search of 
the General I was laid by his side in a hospital near Camp Wyatt. This was 
Monday, the day after the fall of the Fort. From this time until I embarked 
on shipboard, some two days after, Glennan may (I italicize) have been con- 
stant and unremitting in his attentions, but not alone and unassisted. My 
Surgeon, Dr. Singleton, and my assistant Surgeon, Dr. Bledsoe, were constant- 
ly by my side, as well as some of the Medical Staff of the Federal Army, who 
seemed sincerely solicitous for my comfort. When I embarked I parted 
company with Glennan." 

It would seem, by reference to this part of his reply, that he has a wonderful 
recollection of certain details, even of those connected with John 
Vanderhorst, his negro servant, who is deserving of all he says of 
him, — but of those which relate to myself, the "mere" Irish boy, 
his memory is deficient. He closes by quoting from a letter from 
Dr. Powhatan Bledsoe, who was the assistant Surgeon at Fort Fisher, 
a man who is, as William Lamb says of him, the embodiment of truth 
and sincerity. Of the extract from Dr. Bledsoe's letter, except in some minor de- 
tails, I have not one word of objection as to its correctness. Nor does it in the 
least affect the correctness of my statement, as will be seen further on. Those 
parts af the extract from Dr. Bledsoe's letter, which on their face would im- 
ply a direct contradiction of my account, are where Dr. Bledsoe states that 
finding Col. k Lamb in the rear of the Federal lines, as comfortably situated as 
could have been expected, on a litter under a tent, "you (Col Lamb) request- 
ed me to see the Federal Surgeon in command (pointing him out to me. in 
sight of your tent), and ask for a detail of men with permission to take you 
down to the hospital. I did so, and your request was complied with. I ac- 
companied you to the hospital, where we met with Major Hill, and probably 
others of our staff. Surgeon Singleton and jnyself remained hourly with 
Genl. Whiting and yourself, from the time I met with you on the beach, 
until we parted at Fort Monroe. * f You will notice that we were only sepa- 
rated for a few hours from the time I examined your wound in the Fort, say 
six or eight in the evening, until the following day. f. * I have no recollection 
of any one giving you undivided and unremitting attention, save your medi- 
cal officers." 

To those unacquainted with the facts, the letter of Dr. Bledsoe, would 
have unquestioned weight in antagonizing my account, but the simple nara- 
tion of facts that I will' now present in connection with the proof I will 
furnish as to their' correctness, will crushingly expose the plausible and 
ingenious attempt of William Lamb, to deny what it would have been cred- 
itable and manly for him to admit. 

A week or ten days previous to the second and successful attack of the 
Federals on Fort Fisher, I had, while in company with Lieut. Daniel, suffered 
severe injuries by my horse falling upon me, while going through a swamp 
in the vicinity of the beach where General Butler landed his troops on the 



8 

occasion of the first attack. I had not recovered from the injuries when the 
fleet made its second appearance. I was also suffering very greatly from 
rheumatism. Notwithstanding this, and although permission was given to 
all who were sick or incapaciated for duty, to retire to Wilmington, I remained 
in order to attend to the duties of the Quartermaster's Department, (the 
Quartermaster being absent), and to be with my commander. The duties of 
my office I discharged, even, as stated previously, to personally supervis- 
ing, at night, and during the shelling from the fleet, the distribution of 
blankets to the soldiers in the trenches. When the attack by the Naval 
Brigade was made, I shouldered a musket and performed the du- 
ties of a soldier, assisting in the repulse of the gallant men who 
attempted to "board the Fort." Shortly after the repulse of the 
Naval Brigade, and when I believed, with many others of our com- 
mand, that we had secured a glorious victory, I was surprised to dis- 
cern the flags of the enemy floating from the extreme left of the Fort. Short- 
ly afterwards I met Col. Lamb, who was gallantly leading reinforcements 
from Battery Buchanan, for the purpose of capturing and dislodging the enemy 
The men were straggling under the terrific fire, and Col. Lamb, as he rushed 
by, called on me to rally all stragglers I saw. After obeying his command I 
met him returning wounded, assisted by a soldier. I immediately went to his 
assistance, and with the soldier helped him, not to the hospital, where he 
says I met him, but to Head Quarters, adjoining the hospital. Here I re- 
mained until his wound was dressed, being the first to my recollection to 
tenderly wash or sponge it, while his Surgeons examined, probed and dressed 
it. In the tears that were shed, mine mingled, and when he claims in 
his "reply, "that I regret what I did for him, he is guilty of a. base calumny. 
"Glennan was not with me," he says, when "at midnight I was placed in 
a small house at Battery Buchanan, and exhausted with the loss of blood, I 
fell into a fevered sleep surrounded by a few devoted friends. ' ' Oh no, I 
was not. Why does he not remark that his Surgeons were not with him. I 
was not with him because, after his wound was dressed, and his present 
wants attended to, I returned to the field, and afterwards when I visited 
Head Quarters, previous to the capture of the Fort, I was surprised to learn 
that Gen. Whiting and Col. Lamb had been removed to Battery Buchanan 
for the purpose of securing their escape to Wilmington, by means of boats at 
that point. Their escape I felt confident had been effected, and when the 
next morning I found Col. Lamb on the bea cn , I was as much astonished 
as I was rejoiced; astonished that he had not escaped ; rejoiced that I could 
attend and watch by his side. 

In order that it may be understood why a "mere" Quatermaster Sergeant 
of ' 'teams and transportation' ' was enabled to render the aid to his Comman- 
der that he claims he rendered, after finding him, to his belief, ' 'without 
shelter and assistance, unnoticed and uncared for, ' ' it will be necessary for 
me at this point to relate the incident that I have previously alluded to, and 
which I should, but for the necessity of reciting it here, have much preferred 
confining to the conversation of friends. The incident was this : 
During the attack of the Na T ">-l Brigade, while they were attempting to 



1 'board the Fort, ' ' I had fired twice with deliberat3 aim, on a gallant Federal 
officer who was attempting to rally the broken ranks of his men. I was 
about tiring on him the third time, when my conscience reproached me for 
attempting to shoot down a man who was so splendidly brave, and I re- 
frained. He was a conspicuous figure, standing erect in the bright light of 
the evening sun, on a small sand hill on the inside of our line of pallisades. 
He was dressed in full uniform, with a military cape the red lining of which 
was exposed as he waved his sword in his vain effort to steady his men. It 
was beyond the power of men to stand the terrifie fire, such as was rained 
upon his devoted command, and when our men saw them retreat in confu- 
sion, a loud cheer of victory went up. 

After my capture that night, I fell into the hands of some officers of New 
York and Connecticut Regiments who on account of my youth treated me 
very kindly. The topic of conversation was about the fight, and each told 
his experience during 'the hard fought struggle. I related the incident 
above stated, describing the personal appearance of the officer, his position, 
&c, and on concluding, I was apparently roughly slapped on the shoulder 
by some one from behind, and asked "What right had I a surgeon, to 
participate in the fight." I quickly responded, turning around, "That 
I was no Surgeon, but a Sergeant, and I fought because of my right as. a 
'soldier." Looking at my interrogator, I recognized at once the man I 
fired at, and he, who had happened to come up while I was relating 
the incident recognized himself from the description I had given. 

He at once grasped me by the hand, and told me that any request I had to 
make that could be granted, would be. He asked my name and where I was 
from, and when I told him, he remarked that the Surgeon General of Terry's 
army, Dr. Bizzell, had been raised in the neighborhood of Norfolk, and ex- 
pected to make a visit there in a few days, and that he would go out at once 
and find him, which he did, returning with him and introducing me. I was 
again asked if I had any/request to make. I replied that I would be very 
glad if I could have a letter sent to my mother and also a package containing 
my daguerotype I further requsted to be permitted to see if I could discover 
the remains of a companion named Murphy, son of Dr. Murphy, of North 
Carolina, in order to bury them, and also, if I could send a message to Mrs. 
Lamb, who was on the other side of the River, to inform her of the nature of 
Col. Lamb's wounds. The letters and package were carried to Norfolk by Dr. 
Bizzell and delivered to my mother by the late Jno. D. Gammon. In com- 
pany with theChap^ain of a Connecticut Regiment, I searched tor the remains 
of my friend. I had no knowledge that my message to Mrs. Lamb had ever 
been delivered, and I had forgotten the circumstance, until some eight or 
ten months ago, possibly later, when conversing with Col. Lamb in my 
office, on his reply to Gen. Bragg' s Strictures on the Defense of Fort Fisher, 
he informed me, that besides being indebted to me for saving his diary 
containing his record of the fight and other matters, which assisted him in 
making his reply to Gen. Bragg's letter, that the first message as to his con- 
dition that Mrs. Lamb received, was mine. Yet I am an ingrate. 



10 

The incident I have related William Lamb has full knowledge of. But its 
correctness by others, might be doubted. By a most fortunate, I might say 
remarkable occurrence, I am enabled to furnish conclusive proof of the truth 
of my assertion. The name of the officer alluded to I had forgotten 
— until on the very morning that William Lamb's reply was circu- 
lated, (Monday, Oct. 9th) 4 I again c£me into the possession of it by 
the following circumstance. I was conversing in front of the Academy 
of Music with Capt. W. R. Mayo, (who was a gallant participant 
in the defence of Fort Fisher), on the subject of Col. Lamb's reply, 
and had related to him the incident, expressing regret that I had 
forgotten the name of the Naval officer I had fired on. Happening to look 
up the street, he remarked, "Why here eomes an old Fort Fisher man now." 
I turned in the direction of his gaze, and saw a gentleman approaching, who 
on coming up to us, I was introduced to by Capt. Mayo aS Capt. R. D. Evans, 
U. S. Navy, and present Light House Inspector Fifth District. Capt. Mayo 
remarked that we had just been talking about the capture of Fort Fisher- 
and then passingly alluded to the incident I had mentioned to him. Capt. 
Evans had participated in the attack of the Naval Brigade and had been des- 
perately wounded. He knew the officers who participated, and on my relating 
to him the incident, describing the officer, he remarked that he knew well 
whom I alluded to. The officer was Lieut. Commander, K. Randolph 
Breeze, who had lately died. That he, (Evans) had been shot down by his 
side, and that when Breeze visited him the next day, he told him of meet- 
ing with a soldier who had fired upon him, and that the story was well 
known among Breeze's friends in the Navy. 

Am I not justified in saying, that in thus discovering the name of one who 
was so kind to me, the circumstance at this time, and on the very day that 
an attempt was made to discredit a truthful narative of mine, was both for- 
tunate and remarkable. But it is not the only remarkable circumstance in 
connection with this controversy. 

The following letter from Captain Evans, which he has kindly furnished 
me with, gives testimony to what I have stated. 

Office of Light House Inspector, Fifth Dist., 

Baltimore Md., Oct., 16, 1882. 
Me. M. GLENNAN, 

NOEFOLK, VA. 

Deae Sie : — I take pleasure in acknowledging your letter of Oct., 10th. 
— In reply I would say that shortly after the second fight at Fort Fisher, 
Commauder K. R. Breese, who commanded the assaulting column of Sea- 
men and Marines, told me that after he entered the Fort he heard some one 
relating how he had fired at a certain officer in the assault or while we 
were preparing to make the assault, and recognizing the discription of him- 
Belf, made himself known to the Confederate soldier, or officer, who was 
relating the story. I have heard many officers since mention the circnm- 



11 

Capt . Breese was a particular friend of mine, and one of the noblest and 
best men it has ever been my good fortune to know. With thanks for your 
kindly feelings for him, as well as your politeness to me, fe yj 

I remain yours very truly, 

R. D.*EVANS, 

Commander, U. S. N. 

I never met with Capt. Breese* but the night of the capture of the 
Fort, and it was always my regret that I had forgotten his name. Would that 
he were living. I can never forget his kindness — nor his bravery. I did meet 
Dr. Bizzell again, I met him the next morning, after I found Col. Lamb on the 
beach, and it was through his assistance, (with no knowledge previous to the 
publication of Dr. Bledsoe's letter, that any other had applied, that this 
same aid be rendered), that I believed I alone secured the detail of men 
from the Federal Army, - 'a detail that was put under my charge, and by 
which I conveyed my 'hero' to the hospital, several miles away, where 
without rest or relief I "watched by his' side, attending to his every want, 
until Maj. Genl. Whiting, who was also lying wounded in the room, com- 
manded one of his aids to give relief to the boy." 

In reviewing the attempt of William Lamb to deny the truth of the above 
statement, I shall present facts that he has full knowledge of, so far as they 
are connected with the time of my finding him on the beach, up to the time 
I was parted from him in his state room on board the California. The appa- 
rent conflict of Dr. Bledsoe's statement with my own, will by the recital of 
the same facts be also fully explained. It will be well, however, to state here 
the discrepancy between the statements of William Lamb and Dr. Bledsoe: 
Lamb claims that he was carried to General Terry's Head Quarters, and that 
in a conversation with General Terry, he requested to be sent whare General 
Whiting was lying wounded, and that after quite a journey in search of the 
General, he was laid by his side in a hospital near Camp Wyatt. Dr. Bledsoe 
states that he found him, not at General Terry's Head Quarters, but "soon 
after we halted in the rear of the Federal lines, * * on a litter, under a 

*Note. — Captain Breese was selected i:-i September, 1864, by Admiral Por- 
ter who had command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as his fleet 
Captafn, and as such was in both engagements at Fort Fisher. He comman- 
ded the sailors and marines in the Naval assault on Fort Usher, and was re- 
commended by Admiral Porter for immediate promotion for services on that 
occasion. Admiral Porter in his commendatory dispatch of January 28th, 
1865, thus alludes to his services, "Lieut. Commander K. R. Breese, was my 
fleet Captain, has been with me nearly all the time since the rebellion broke 
out * * * At Fort Fisher he led the boarders in the assault, and though 
we were not successful in getting into the fort in the face of equal numbers, 
yet that assault gained the day, as it is generally admitted on every side. 
Lieut. Commander Breese did all he could to rally his men, and made two or 
three unsuccessful attempts to regain the parapet, but the marines having 
failed in their duty to support the gallant officers and sailors, who took the 
lead, he had to retire to a place of safety- He did not, however, lose tfee ground, 
but remained under the parapet in a rifle pit, using a musket until night fa- . 
vored escape. He is a gallant officer, and I strongly recommend his imme- 
diate promotion to a Commander" — Hamersley's Naval Encyclopaedia 1881. 



12 

tent." Again, Dr. Bledsoe, wrote Col. Lamb, "you requested me to see 
-the Federal Surgeon, in command, (pointing him out to me in sight of 
your tent) and ask for $, detail of men with permission to take you down 
to the hospital, I did so, and your request was complied with." Thus it 
will be seen, that it was not the request of Lamb to General Terry that was 
complied with, but the request of Dr. Bledsoe as he says, to the Surgeon 
General that met with a response. 

# As to the correctness of my statement, the following are the facts. As • 
previously stated, I was under the impression on the night of the capture of 
the Fort, that Genl. Whiting and Col. Lamb had, with the assistance of their 
officers, effected their escape to Wilmington. Such was the general impres- 
sion. The next morning, as Dr. Bledsoe correctly states it, after the great, 
explosion, the Confederate officers remaining in the Fort, were marched out 
of the Fort and about three miles up the beach, and halted in the rear of the 
Federal lines. I was marched out with them. Owing to lameness, rendered 
more severe by rheumatism, and the injuries received by the fall of my horse 
upon me, as previously stated, I made very slow progress, in the march of 
three miles, and I arrived at the halting place some time after the others. 
On arriving there, to my astonishment, I heard that Col. Lamb was on the 
beach, and I immediately sought and found him not a soul was with him. 
He was as Dr. Bledsoe says, on a litter, but not under a tent, unless what 
was known as a "fly" may be called a tent. He was suffering great pain, 
and as soon, as I spoke to him, he asked me to have him taken to where 
Genl. Whiting was. I asked him where Genl. Whiting Was, and he replied 
at Camp Wyatt Hospital. He never mentioned that he had made this re- 
quest of Genl. Terry. He never mentioned that he made it of Dr. Bledsoe. 
Finding him as I did, without a soul present with him, and never knowing 
until the publication of his reply, and Dr. Bledsoe's letter, that the request 
had been made to Genl. Terry or Dr. Bledsoe, I could but conclude that 'Tie 
had been unnoticed and uneared for, without shelter or assistance, on the 
desolate beach." jf he had been cared for — if he had been attended to, 
why w as it that -he had been carried three miles from Fort Fisher or four 
miles from the "small house at Battery Buchanan, exhausted with the loss 
of blood," and placed under a common "fly," open on all sides, while Genl. 
Whiting had been provided for, in being carried to the Hospital at Camp 
W'yatt ? There must have been some grievous error in this treatment. ; I 
cannot conceive that it was intentional — but I am conscious that it was 
Lamb's knowledge that his treatment was not that accorded to Genl. Whit- 
ing, and the discomforts and desolateness of his position that caused him to 
ask Genl. Terry, Dr. Bledsoe and myself, and probably others, to have -kirn 
removed from the beach to the Hospital. 

As I have remarked, I had no knowledge that he had made the request 
of others than myself. I told him that I Mould at once see what could be done . 
and starting off, I had not gone far, when I met Surgeon General BiszclL, • 
approaching. He recognized me, and I told him my Colonel was there, Woun- 
ded and exposed, and that he wanted to be carried to the Hospital at Camp 



13 

Wyatt, where Genl. Whiting was. He immediately accompanied me to 
where Col. Lamb was lying, -inquired as to his condition, and promised to 
go at once and get a detail. He returned shortly afterwards, stated that the 
detail would report in a little while, and that it would be under my guid- 
ance, for the removal of Col. Lamb to the Hospital. The detail shortly re- 
ported, in charge of a Corporal or Sergeant, and I guided it to Camp Wyatt 
Hospital, where we arrived late in the evening. Col. Lamb was placed by 
the side of Genl. Whiting. The two men uttered not a word, they simply 
stretched out their arms, and quietly clasped hands. I had marched over 
six miles, over rough roads, that day, suffering pain. I laid down on the 
floor, among the wounded and dying, (for the Hospital was crowded), and 
awoke the next morning finding a ■companion on either side of me, "sleep- 
ing his last sleep." Early that morning Genl. Whiting and Col. Lamb 
were removed to a small house, not far from the Hospital, where I remained 
with Lamb night and clay, attending to his wants, until Genl. Whiting on 
the second or third night, asked his aide to relieve me. Yet I am an ingrate. 
Now as to the proof. A^ter the appearance of William Lamb's reply, I 
wrote to Dr. Bledsoe, giving njy recollections almost similar to what I have 
above written. I am in receipt of a reply from him, under date of Hanover 



"I wish it understood that, my statement [to Col. Lamb] was not in- 
tended to refute what you had written. You well remember the confusion, 
suffering,* and fatigue, through which we had passed, and I am sure, 
under the circumstances you might have done a great deal for Col. Lamb 
without it making any lasting impression^n me. As to his being under a 
tent when I met up. with him on the beach, it is my recollection of the 
fact, but my recollection may, possibly be at fault, as it has been a long 
time ago. As to carrying him from the beach to the Hospital, your state- 
ment in your letter to me as to the hour of the clay, accords with my mem- 
ory of it, but I can't for my life, remember that you were along with us. 
You are also right as to our removal from the Jfefospital to a small house near 
by, before taking the steamer, all of which goes to p¥ove that your state- 
ment thtfsfar is correct. Nor have I any good reason to say that you were 
net, during those clays of suffering and trial, as kind and as attentive to 
Col. Lamb as, you could be, under the circumstances. My not remembering 
those things, is no prtof that tiny tire untrue, for my impression is, if you had 
absent td yourself from vs ling at a time, f-ome inquiry would have been made as 
to the' cause of your absence, which woidd bare probably made an impression. 
Now, Mike, (I address you thus, for I still remember you as the brave, hon- 
orable lad who bore that name at Fort Fisher), I have made my statement, 
and have seen yours, and the only difference is that I "don't remember you 
as the watchful, untiring nurse you claim to have been." 

Frank — open, and consciencious, I would be perfectly willing to rest 
judgement on this letter of Dr. Bledsoe's, without fear, as to the conclusion, 
The only difference he finds in my statement and his own, is that he don't 
remember me, as the watchful and untiring nurse, I claim to have been, 
but he srys, "my not remembering these things is no proof that they are 
untrue, rather to the contrary" and, he gives his reason, which is that, "had 
I been absent, inquiry would have he en made of the cause, which would 



14 

have probably made an impression." There is one, however, who has a 
recollection and knowledge of my watchfulness, attention, and devotion to 
Col. Lamb, while he was in the Hospital, and up to the time I was parted 
from him on board the steamer California. I allude to Maj. Joseph H. Hill, 
Chief of Staff, of Genl. Whiting, who with Lieut Gadsden Hazel, also of 
Genl. Whiting's Staff, watched by the bedside of that chivalrous and noble 
soldier, alternately relieving each other, and who was an eye witness of my 
services "as a watchful and untiring nurse." 

The following is a letter I received from Maj. Hill, in reply to a note ad- 
dressed to him, asking him to state his recollection of my services to Col. 
Lamb, from the time of our capture to our separation on the Steamer Califor- 
nia. 

Eichmond, Va., Nov. 14, 1882, 
M. GLENNAN, 

Norfolk, Va. 

Dear Sir : — In reply to yours of this date, I beg to say that my recol- 
lection of your attention to Col. Lamb, after our capture at Fort Fisher, was 
all that one could have been to another, and I do not know that I can use 
stronger language, than to add, it was, in my opinion, equal to my own, to 
Genl. Whiting, my brother-in-law, and whose Adjutant General I was. 

Yours most truly, 

James H. Hill. 

Yet William Lamb, accuses me of impudence for stating the truth — and 
he who was the recipient of such devotion, — a devotion compared to that of 
a brother's, has no recollection, but says, that Glennan may have been con- 
stant and unremitting in his attention, yet he seeks with insinuating plans- 
ability to show that Glennan was not. Who is the ingrate ? 

At this point it will be appropriate for me to notice the postscript to Wil- 
liam Lambs' reply, consisting of an extract, from a letter written by Lieut. 
John N. Kelly. This letter of Lieut. Kelly was written under an impres- 
sion on his part, as will be shown, that I had slandered the brave men who 
fought at Fort Fisher in an attempt to show that they were not devoted to 
their commander, and from a misconception of the meaning of my words, 
that from the time I enlisted in one of the companies of the regiment (36 
North Carolina) of which William Lamb was Colonel "in every skirmish 
with the enemy, in the great battles that were fought, the youth was at the 
side of the man. ' ' No man in all his command, has ever defended the 
bravery of William Lamb, at Fort Fisher, as I have, and no man has ever 
written <* spoken in prouderterms of the devotion of soldiers to their com- 
mander, than I have written and spoken of the devotion of the brave men of 
Fort Fisher for their commander, and no man knows this better/ than Wil- 
liam Lamb. My assertion that I found my commander ' 'on the desolate 
bsach, without shetler or assistance, unnoticed and uncared for," was no 
reflection on his officers or men. I believe, that aside from their personal 
consideration of their condition and the condition of their loved ones at home, 
unquestionably their anxiety for him, for his condition, for his comfort, 
on that day, was uppermost in their hearts, but they could do nothing, 



15 

they were prisoners. And this was demonstrated by the l fact, that save his 
Surgeons, Drs. ''Singleton and Bledsoe, and the "mere boy," the "Quarter- 
master Sergt. , in charge of Teams aud transportation, ' ' none were permitted 
to remain with him. Not a member of his Staff, nor one of his officers,, #ave 
his Surgeons and his Quartermaster Sergt. , and his servant, was granted an 
opportunity to render him assistance ! And was it not strange that this 
mere "Quartermaster Sergt. of Teams and transportation" was permitted to 
be by his side, until parted from him on the steamer? It was, — but the 
reason has been previously given. When I claimed that I was by the side 
of Col. Lamb in every skirmish with the enemy, and during the two great 
battles, I did not intend to imply that I was touching elbows with him, but 
expecting the language would be construed in the ordinary sense of the term, 
as understood by soldiers, when they say they fought side by side with each 
other, in the same cause and under the same banner. Literally in this sense 
my assertion was correct, for although I occupied a position that relieved me 
from participating in any engagement, yet, I think I can affirm without con- 
tradiction, that I participated in every skirmish and engagement that Col. 
Lamb participated in. I participated in the capture of the officers and 
men of the United States Steamer Columbia, beached at the head of Masan- 
boro Sound; I participated in the effort to capture the brave and daring 
Lieut, Commander, Cushing; I partipated in the capture of the Steamer Kate, 
beached at Smith's Island, (Frying Pan Shoals) from the Federal Blockading 
fleet; I was one of a boat's crew, who, in the face of the Blockading fleet, and in 
the midst of a terrible sea, crossed New Inlet, and secured a small schooner 
that had been beached in the breakers during the night. To be present at my 
post of duty, I left Wilmington, where I was attending to official business, 
on the evening of the first day of the first fight at Fort Fisher, and that night 
risked the fire of friend and foe, to reach the Fort, a comrade who was with 
me, being captured by the enemy. I participated in the last fight, and was 
taken prisoner. Confident that Lieut Kelly had written under an erroni- 
ous impression, I wrote to him to do me the justice to correct any wrong his 
letter might have created. In a reply, d ated Clarkton, N. C, Oct. 30th., 1882, 
he writes/— "I am glad you say you did not use "at the side of the man," in 
the sense I thought you did, but used it in the sense soldiers do, when they 
say they fought side by side with each other. In this sense, I would do you, 
myself, and truth, the greatest injustice and injury, to contradict you; nor 
would Col. Lamb allow me to do so unrebuked. I did not intend to con- 
tradict that you were with Col. Lamb in every skirmish, you may have 
been * * Did you know tbe "Boys" used to complain a little among them- 
selves, at what we called the Col's "great partiality" to you, in letting you 
go with him in so many of his bold and gallant attacks on the enemy, while 
our turns had to be less frequent. That you did your whole duty at Fisher, 
I have never questioned, nor has Col. Lamb, to my knowledge ever in- 
timated such, — indeed I feel sure he would never suffer such intimations 
to be made in his presence, without flatly contradicting it. I know you 
were a good Quartermaster Sergt, and a brave and gallant young soldier." 



16 

After stating his reasons for const rueing my language of Uncling Col. 
Lamb "on the desolate beach, without shelter or . assistance, unnoticed and 
uncared for" as a reflection on his officers and men, (a mattei which has air 
ready been thoroughly explained so as to render it unnecessary for me to 
make any further comment on the subject). Lieut. Kelly remarks, "nothing 
was more foreign from my heart, than the wish or desire to do you a wrong 
or injustice." From the foregoing narative, the reader can readily determ- 
ine whether or not I was at all extravagant in my statement of assistance, 
(based on a boy's fidelity to his commander, ) when I found him unnoticed on 
the beach -near Fort Fisher. How that devotion and love was repaid I have 
stited in my Sketch of Two Lives. The accuracy of that statement has 
been questioned, with what truth we shall see. 

AFTER THE WAPv 

Col. Lamb was put otf at Fortress Monroe, while with Genl. Whiting and 
the rest of the officers, captured at Fort Fisher, I was carried to Governor's 
Island, New York Harbor. While' there, Genl. 'Whiting, who with his 
Staff had been placed in seperate quarters, notified me through one of his 
Aids of his intended recommendation of my promotion, to a Lieutenancy 
for services rendered. It was about the last act of this noble and chivalrous 
6oldier, for shortly afterwards he died from the effects of his wounds. After 
remaining in prison a few months we were paroled, and on arriving in Rich- 
mond I was ordered to Greensboro. Here I remained until the surrender of 
Genl. Johnston, whe#I returned home. The morning after my return, I visi- 
ted Mr. Francis Decordy, to know the condition and location of Willam Lamb. 
.Notwithstanding the nature of my mission, lie at that time, gruffly rebuked 
me for being a rebel, and I secured no information. A few weeks later I met 
him again, when he was exceedingly kind in his manner, and furnished me 
with all information, I learned that Col. Lamb was in Providence, and was 
improving. I wrote him and a correspondence ensued. He was kind in his 
enquiries as to what I was doing, and it was in one of his letters, unsolicited 
on my part, that he wrote me, in substance, "If I can do anything for you — 
if I have in my old home any friends with whom I have any influence — I 
I shall see that your attachment to me is not forgotten. I shall be home soon 
myself, for the purpose of entering upon business, and I shall want you with 
me. ' ' Could language be stronger, ' 'I shall see that your attachment to me is 
not forgotten." and further, "I Shall be home soon myself for the purpose of 
entering upon business — and I shall want you with me." This is the language 
of a man to a youth — unsolicited, and the youth was gratified. How were 
these unsolicited promises fulfilled ? We shall see. 

On his return home, (with far greater wealth than hehad when the war had 
opened,) I called to see him at his residence. He was cordial in his greetings 
I was rejoiced at meeting him. Here, under his roof, unsolicited, (for I never 
asked him a favor in my life), he reiterated his written promise, positively stat- 
ing that he wanted my services, mentioning the place he had selected for his office, 
telling me the day he proposed commencing, and making it a point, that I shonld 



17 

arrange to be with him. On the day he named, and at the place, I called, and 
as I have stated in my sketch, I had no sooner entered his office, than I found 
that the man's profession of gratitude was false. I was politely asked to take 
a seat, and in a few minutes afterwards, with my face flushed with expected 
disappointment, I listened to him express his regrets "that business would 
not at present admit of him giving me employment, hut he hoped he would 
soon be able to do so." I left his office and I never entered it again. 

What reply does William Lamb make to this ? He states that his letter to 
me, and the interview at his home, "shows that his (my) welfare was still up- 
permost in my (his) mind. ' ' True it looked that way. but notwithstanding the 
fact that he wrote that he wanted me with him, and in his subsequent inter- 
view he made it a condition upon me that I should arrange to be with him, 
yet he states, "it was impossible to find a place for my young friend, from his 
physical inability and his want of commercial training." Did he not know 
of my physical inability and my want of commercial training a few w r eeks 
before ? That physical. inability did not prevent the lad of fifteen years from 
serving for four years in the Confederate Army, by the side of William 
Lamb, and his lack of commercial training, did not prevent him front faith- 
fully discharging the duties of Quartermaster Sergt. (or Quartermaster, 
when the occasion required it,) of Fort Fisher and adjacent camps, where at 
times he had to look after the wants of thousands of men, duties which he 
discharged in a manner that gave complete satisfaction. 

But he states that, "I did not forget him. I thought him eminently 
qualified for the newspaper business, and without letting him know until I 
could perfect matters, I purchased the Daily Post newspaper, intending to 
give it in charge of one of my brothers and himself. So soon ~ s I consum- 
mated the purchase I sent word to him to come and see me, that I wanted to 
gi:e him a place on the paper ; I received his indifferent answer, and I then 
found out that unintentionally, I had lost his friendship. ' ' Now either this 
is a direct and wilful falsehood, or the person whom he entrusted with this 
message to me never delivered it. Certain it is, I never heard of this act of 
kindness on his part before I read it in his reply. Let him name the person 
who he entrusted with this message, and who he says returned to him from 
me ''an indifferent answer." Why, I would have been only too glad to have 
acknowledged from this act, that I had judged rashly the man from whom I 
had every reason to expect friendship. If I, at that time, at the age of 21, 
was eminently qualified for the newspaper business, I was ignorant of it. The 
only experience I ever had up to that time, was that of mailing clerk for the 
Argus, five years before, and when in January 1867 I was asked by Mr. Theo. 
B. Ruffin to take a place on the Virginian as manager I accepted it with 
thanks, but also with "fear and trembling." 

Col. Lamb goes on to state that subsequently he tried to quietly win back 
my confidence, but failed, and found that "as the years rolled on, the youth 
who could have commanded anything I had, was becoming an enemy." 
Continuing, he remarks, that as he had done nothing to justify such con- 
duct "self-respect made me leave him (me) alone, but I never failed when oc- 



18 

casion offered to speak a kind word in his (my) behalf. I caused his election as 
Secretary of the Merchants and Mechanics Exchange, and although I could 
not give him my job printing, not because his office was out of the way, but 
because I was a large Stockholder and Director in a Newspaper and Job 
Printing office, established before he went into business. I never failed to 
send him advertising when I could do so with justice to my own company " 
I think I can truly say, that it was nearly two years after I parted with 
Col. Lamb at his office on Commerce street, before I met him again to have 
any conversation with him, and I can with equal truth, say, that except in 
a political sense, I have never been his enemy. Up to the time that he, as 
agent of the Lorillard Line of Steamers, used the expression, that ' 'the papers 
of Norfolk were all under the influence of Gen'l Mahone" and, at the same 
time in a reply to a solicitor of the Norfolk Journal, who was seeking Job 
printing patronage from him, said, ' 'that his preference was to give his work to 
Glennan, but that his office was out of the way ;" I had not mentioned 
to a dozen persons his treatment to me. At my home, I simply alluded to 
my disappointment, and although for years I suffered intensely from the 
thought of his ingratitude, yet I never harbored a thought shaded with 
the slightsst malice against him. I had resolved , at the moment I left 
his office never to ask him a favor or to complain to him of his treat- 
ment, and also, to prove to him, that I would strive to succeed. It was 
only when I heard that he had used the language quoted above, that, meet- 
ing him a day or two afterwards at the office of the Virginian, then on Roan- 
oke Square, I indignantly denounced his charge of the Virginian being under 
the influeuce of Mahone or any other man, as false, and that none ought to 
know this better than he, who had known me so long. I rebuked him for his 
excuse to the solicitor, that while his preference was to give me his Job 
work, he was prevented from doing so, "because my office was out of the 
way." I told him then that I had never solicited his work, and gave my rea- 
sons ; I told him that during the war he had never found me out of the 
way, and I called up to his mind his unsolicited pledge to give me employ- 
ment, and how he had disregarded it. At that time William Lamb, was not 
interested either as a Director or Stockholder, in any newspaper or Job 
Printing office. This was the first and only time that I ever made an allu- 
sion to him of his treatment, and the only explanation he gave was that he 
had been misunderstood, and that he had always been my friend. I told him 
that he had a singular way of showing it. Yet after that interview, as 
before it, I demonstrated friendship for him on numerous occasions 
There was no business enterprise that he engaged in that I did not seek to 
advance by kindly reference. When he represented in an official capacity the 
business and commercial interests of the city, I looked to it that his action 
had full prominence. When he re-entered politics, in the Democratic party, 
I sought to push him forward. It was through my assistance that he was 
elected a delegate to the St. Louis Convention. Through my assistance he 
was made temporary chairman of the Convention that nominated Gov. Holli- 
day, and on every occasion that I could, without sacrifice of previous pledges, 



19 

help him politically, I extended my aid. Since we have differed in political 
issues, I sustained his right to the claim of being in command of Fort 
Fisher. While I have condemned his course as Mayor of the City, when 
ever I thought it deserved condemnation ; he has always had the use of the 
columns of the Virginian to defend himself, and it has been rare that any act 
of his, that deserved favorable mention, has not received it. Before a com- 
mittee of business men at the Cotton Exchange, in December '81, I advoca- 
ted .strongly his appointment as delegate to the Atlanta Exposition, — and 
when on the streets he was charged with a defalcation of the money re" 
ceived for fines, &c, I extended to him the use of the columns of the 
Virginian to make his defence against the charge, a courtesy that he 
availed himself of. Further than that, on the very night that he penned his 
infamous card — in which he sought with cold blooded malice to degrade me — I 
penned a complimentary notice of his efforts to secure the erection of a Light 
House, a notice that appeared in the Virginian on the morning that his Card 
appeared on the streets. How kindly I have always felt towards him and 
his, the columns of the Virginian will amply show, for in addition to my 
repeated friendly allusions to himself and his enterprises, I have lost no op- 
portunity to Wjrite kind words of his sons in order to bring them into public 
notice, that their future interests might be advanced. My motives were mis- 
construed by many, and the belief prevailed, that I was indebted to him for my 
education and my establishment in business — a belief that he and his friends 
gave currency to, and which had greater circulation than I imagined. This 
. can be readily seen, from the following extract from a letter I received, con- 
gratulating me on my course in the matter of his card. The writer says, 
4 'I can't help repeating my endorsement. I was rjarticularly pleased with 
the exposure of the baseness of Lamb's pretentions to have raised and made 
you — and your disavowal of the Code. I don't know that he ever said this. 
But this is what I have often caught from the public, I thought from y»ur 
fidelity — your attachment, your tender care of him since the war, the ex- 
ceeding kindness of the Virginian, from all public acts, — that perhaps there 
was a debt of gratitude that you were trying to pay. I am glad to find it is 
not so— that the boot is entirely on the other foot. The course of the Virgin- 
ian towards him, (specially since 1878) ought long since to have paid every 
personal and pecuniary debt. I don't care what it could have been, it would 
have been paid. Of all the acts of his life the meanest will be regarded as 
his ingratitude to you. You will be nobly repaid in the public appreciation 
of your chivalrous fidelity — your almost Quixotic loyalty. ' ' 

His one act of friendship to me, in all the years since the war, notwith- 
standing his assertion that I "could have commanded anything I (he) had" 
was to use his influence in having me elected "Secretary of the Merchants 
and Mechanics Exchange. " (a position with no pay attached). I acknowl- 
edge it, and in summing up his exhibition of friendship for me from the 
time that I entered his office in 1856-7, up to the time of the appearance of 
his card, in which he terms me an "ingrate," they can be briefly enumera- 
ted as follows : 



20 

I. Declarations of Friendship. 

IL Acts of Friendship. 

The Declarations have no donbt been many. The acts have been two. 

I. His unsolicited request that I should receive half of the profits of the 
Sutlership of Fort Fisher. 

II. His influence in securing me the position of Secretary of the Mer- 
chants and Mechanics Exchange. 

If my devotion to him as a youth, previous to and during the war, and my 
friendship for him as a man since the war, as shown in the preceding pages, 
have not repaid these two acts of his kindness to me. I am willing to stand 
his charge of ingratitude. 

HIS EECOED. 

I shall now consider that portion of his reply, in which he seeks to refute 
my summing up of his career — a career, that save his gallantry at Fort Fish- 
er, through youth and through manhood, has been a lamatable failure. 

1. And first in order is his career at William and Mary. In my sketch I sta- 
ted upon the authority of a class-mate of AVilliam Lamb, at William and 
Mary, that the lamented Judge Scarburg, who at one time was a Erofsssor at 
the College, publicly reprimanded him for violating honor during his prepa- 
ration for an examination. Lamb attempts to disprove the statement, 
by citing the fact, that Judge Wm. H. Burroughs, who was also a class-mate, 
had no recollection of such an occurrence ; — and a letter from President Ewell 
of William and Mary, is published, in which he states, that he is amazed at 
the charge, because of his total ignorance of the alledged transaction, and he 
considers, that it would have been impossible for any such thing to have oc- 
curred without it cpming to his ears. Therefore, he believes, that there is no 
foundation, in truth, for the charge. President Ewell cites also as a reason, 
that the charge is unwarranted, the fact, that William Lamb in July 1854, 
delivered by appointment of the Faculty, a poem at the Commencement, 
and in 1855 was made Valedictorian, and delivered the Valedictory at the 
Commencement that year — that Judge Scarburg was present at this appoint- 
ment, and Eresident Ewell believes he advocated the appointment, 

The failure of Judge Burroughs to recollect the occurrence, and the belief 
on the part of Eresident Ewell that the charge is unfounded — are no proofs 
that the charge is untrue. What are the proofs as to its correctness ? I am 
in receipt of a letter from one of William Lamb's class-mates, in which it is 
asserted, that "The statement in your letter is substantially correct. Erof. 
Ewell knows nothing of it.' ' The letter then goes on to give full particulars of 
the affair, which occurred during the examination of the Law class, and when 
altera pledge on the part of the class that they would receive no assistance 
from persons or books,. William Lamb violated the same, presenting his writ- 
ten answers, which, on being read by Judge Scarburg, he charged Lamb 
with having consulted books, and Lamb confessed to having done so. Judge 
Scarburg then reprimanded and refused to allow him to pass. The writer of 
the letter not having expressed consent to the publication of the same, nor 
indicated re usal, I have thus briefly alluded ,to it. The letter, however, 
can be seen by those who desire to read it. But convincing proof of the 



21 

charge will be found below. During his visit to Norfolk in November last, 
Dr. Geo. T. Scarburg, son of the lamented Judge Scarburg, and who was a 
student at William and Mary when the occurrence took place, voluntarily 
and unsolicited, called on me, and said that I could use his name in asserting 
that the statement of fact in my charge was correct. In order that I might 
make no error in relation to his conversation, I asked him to give his recol- 
lection of the circumstance in Avriting, which he cheerfully consented to, and 
addressed me the following letter : 

Norfolk, Va., Nov. 2nd., 1882. 
M. GLENNAN, Esq. 

Dear Str. — In response to your inquiry in regard to the reprimand by 
my father to Col. Lamb, I reply that I was a student at the College at the 
time, and that my recollection is positive and distinct, that he did reprimand 
him, in the presence of members of the class, for having gained assistance in 
his examination in violation of his pledge not to do so. I heard it spoken 
of by my father at his house, in conversation with one or two members of 
the class, who boarded with him. 

Very truly yours, 

G. T. SCAEBEEG. 

The reason given by those who I have conversed with, and by Dr Scar- 
burg, why William Lamb was permitted to deliver the Valedictory, is, that 
he had been appointed to deliver it, and it was too late to change. Besides 
Judge Scarburg did not wish to make public the affair, and considered that 
his reprimand was sufficient. This was in keeping with his generous and 
affectionate nature, The Law class met in the office of Judge Scarburg on 
the lot owned by him, and distant from the College nearly a mile. Col. Ewell 
was not present. 

2. In reply to my charge of his ingratitude to the men of Norfolk, whom 
he, more than any other man, influenced to leave their workshops, their 
clerkships and other employments in order to take up arms in defence of the 
Confederacy — an ingratitude, that permitted employment at the close of the 
war to be given to the lately freed slaves, who were at that time demonstra- 
ting their insolence to returned "rebels" — and who with barbarous brutality 
had displayed their hate of the "White Seesesh" on Emancipation day, in 
an awful massacre of a white family ; — he gives as a reason, that he gave his 
work in charge of a friend, who had, when his father was in prison secured 
his release, by leaving the bedside of a dying child to plead with Presi- 
dent Lincoln; and that if this friend employed negro mechanics, it was no 
more than others were doing, for at that time, business and building were so 
active that mechanics of any kind were hard to obtain. His recognition of 
the services of this friend, is to be appreciated. He would have been an 
' 'ingrate' ' if he had overlooked him. But, was he not an ' 'ingrate' ' when at the 
time alluded to, he, in opulence, with employment to give out, failed to re- 
member the men who under his influence, parted with father and mother, 
wife and children, and for four long years as heroes, fought and bled for the 
cause of the Confederacy, and when on their return home, wearing the tat- 
tered grey, were taunted and insulted by insolent negroes, who were pro- 
tected by the military of the United States ? At this time work was not 
brisk — employment was not .plentiful — and the returned Confederate had 



a hard time in earning a subsistence for himself and his little ones. 
I well recollect the indignation that was uttered at the course pursued 
by William Lamb, — an indignation that expressed itself in the defeat of his 
father for the mayoralty. His father was not unpopular. He was at that 
time personally looked upon as the most popular man in the city. But the 
people desired, by his defeat, to rebuke the action of his son after the war, 
as they rebuked the "unpopular candidate" alluded to by Lamb in his reply, 
for his reported actions during the war. The reprimand in this case was 
crushing, and for many years after, William Lamb, never participated in 
politics, giving as his reason the excuse that he had no time to give from his 
business. As to the letter of Mr. Henry J. Maigne, I had no knowledge of 
what William Lamb's kindness was to the Confederate soldiers after the 
period I referred to, and his exceeding generosity in the bestowal of favors to 
them, amounting to the immense sum of $50,000 is "greatly to his credit." 
His gifts must have been very quietly and unostentatiously distributed, and 
we question if his right hand knew what his left hand did. If, however, the 
greater part of his liberality or his losses, was the result of unwise security, 
it was amply repaid in the losses that others incurred through the misman- 
agement of William Lamb. As to his efforts to build up the trade of Nor- 
folk, I have too often awarded him praise in the columns of the Virginian, 
and would not detract in the slightest from what in this matter, is his just 
due. 

3. I come now to the reply to my charge that William Lamb, as 
President of the First National Bank, "knew its bankrupt condition, 
yet, he allowed the reception of deposit*, well knowing that the Bank 
must break, and on the very day of its failure permitted the money of 
confiding friends to be received, and that from the failure of the Bank 
many sad results followed. We have heard of good honest English settlers 
who, trusting the reputation William Lamb had in England, deposit- 
ed their all in the keeping of his Bank, and who hearing of their loss 
despared and died, aAvay from the home of their childhood, in a strange 
land : and we knew of others, who endorsing for this man, or loaning him 
their notes, lost all the possessions they had in the world." 

On September the 13th, three days after the publication of my paper, I 
learned that I was in error in stating that William Lamb was President of 
the First National Bank on the day of its failure, and in the Virginian of the 
14th, I published a brief card correcting this mistake. I also, in justice to 
the gentlemen who were at the time of the failure, the officers of the Bank, 
stated, that the deposits entrusted to the Bank "the day previous to the sus- 
pension and on the day of suspension, were returned to the depositors." This 
did not, however, affect my charge, that " William Lamb, as the President of 
the Bank, knew its bankrupt condition, yet he allowed the reception of deposits, 
well knowing that the Bank must break.." This charge I made, and I now pro- 
pose to prove it, from the testimony of William Lamb himself. 

In his card published in the Virginian and other papers, July 1878, he 
writes : 



23 

"I was connected (the italics are mine) for a long time with the First 
National Bank, which suspended shortly after my resignation as President. 
When I entered this Bank its its stock was apparently worth par. I found out 
when too late, that its foundation was sapped — if indeed it ever had any — it being 
literally a fungus of the money plethora and speculation of the last days of thl,- nil 
war. I soon discovered a suspended debt of some $40,000 and from one account 
alone * * there came * * a suit against the First National Bank, with 
damages laid at $100,000. From that day to the end, it was a struggle 
against ill fate and endless litigation, and nothing but the large business of 
the bank, together with the credit I gave it, kept it from ruin." 

Again, in a series of resolutions passed by the Norfolk Liberal Club, pub- 
lished Sept. 16th, 1882, and which I believe were instigated by, if not 
written by him or at his dictation, appears the following : 

"His unfortunate connection with a banking institution, which was bank- 
rupt when he assumed control, was a misfortune, from which he suffered more 
than any one else 1 ' * *'. 

From the above extracts, it is shown, that William Lamb, . (by his 
own evidence) was for a long time President of the First National Bank, 
how many yearsl do not know, and that soon after his election, he 
discovered a suspended debt from what sprung a suit with damages 
laid at $100.000 — and from that day to the end, it was a struggle 
against ill fate and endless litigation — or in the language of the resolu- 
tions adopted by the Liberal Club, the institution was "bankrupt when 
he assumed control." Is this not proof of what I charge, viz : that 
William Lamb, as the President of the bank, knew its bankrupt condition, 
yet, he allowed the reception of deposits, well knowing that the bank 
must break. " What should have been his course ? Ought he not, in justice 
to the depositors who trusted the stability of the bank and the "credit" of 
William Lamb, have immediately made known its condition and thus saved 
them from ruin. But did he do ' this ? Oh no. For the long time he was 
President of the bank, he drew the large salary of the office, (Three to Five 
Thousand a year I am informed), too large for a bankrupt institution to pay, 
and solicited deposits even as Sate as January 1874, a few months previous to 
the closing of the institution, soliciting them too, because of the '"'conserva- 
tive and legitimate' " manner with which it conducted business, as the fol- 
lowing circular, signed by William Lamb, as President, and circulated on 
postal cards, the first day of the new year of 1874, will indicate. I italicize. 

FIRS T NATIONAL BANK OF NORFOLK, 

(Chartered 1864.) 

This Bank, the oldest National Bank in the South, solicits the accounts of 
those whom the recent ' 'panic' ' may have suggested the propriety of making 
new arrangements. 

It does a strictly conservative and legitimate banking business, and it will be 
pleased to reply to any inquiries as to terms. 

No interest has ever been allowed on daily balances, but accounts taken 
by special agreement, bring 5 and 6 per cent interest, according to duration of 
deposit. 

Large amounts deposited on interest are taken with the understanding that 
a reasonable notice be given of intended withdrawal. 



24 

Matured Bonds and Coupons collected, and IT. S. Bonds and Gold sold for 
customers free of commission. 

Loans on real estate negotiated and interest collected thereon free of 
charge. 

WILLIAM LAMB, Pkesident. 

January 187-1. 

The above "Postal" Circular, that bears the Postoffice mark, January 1st, 
it will be admitted, was a very strong paper to send out in the interests 
of a Bank, whose foundation it had been discovered by the President was 
"sapped— -if indeed — it ever had any" — "which was literally a fungus of 
the money plethora and .speculation of the civil war" — and that had been 
"struggling against ill fate and endless legislation" from the day that a 
suspended debt had been discovered, to the end. 

As to English settlers, who were depositors losing their means through the 
failure of the bank. I had frequently heard that such was the case, and I had 
read in one of the Virginia papers, shortly after the 'closing of the institu- 
tion, a pathetic account of the death of an English settler because of his 
losses through the failure of the First National Bank, and I know of men 
who endorsing for this man, or loaning him their notes, lost all their possess- 
ions, yet, who are to-day facing life boldly and resolutely. 

5 and 6. It is hardly necessary for me to notice the peculiar way he treats 
the charge that he was elected Chief Magistrate under false colors, and that he 
had proved a tyrant, hated and detested, beginning his career by seeking re- 
venge on two trusted Police officers who had opposed his election. Surely 
he was elected Mayor, on the ground that he was an independent Jefferso- 
nian Democrat, who had such an abhorence in the fall of 1880 for any Re- 
publican, that in a discussion at Princess Anne Courthouse, during the bit- 
ter canvass of that period, participated in by Lacy and Lamb against Goode 
andFitzhngh Lee, that he resented Gen. Lee's prophecy "that he Lamb 
was going into the Republican ranks, ' ' telling the crowd, ' 'that he could stand 
almost anything but being called a Republican and that he would not let Gen. 
Lee or any man say that, if he was not under bonds to keep the peace." 
That he has proved a tyrant, this community knows only too well, nor need 
I notice his remarks upon my allusion to his record as a duelist. What I said 
of his latest fiasco in that role in connection with the charge, is well known 
as the truth, and my reasons for the allusion were well justified. The 
lamented gentleman whose name he uses in this matter, was his warm 
friend up to the conclusion of this affair. His friendship afterwards may be 
expressed, by the word, "pity." Lamb admits that his "house was sur- 
rounded," and he ( asserts that his "honorable adversary's was not." His 
unblushing denial of this established fact is in perfect keeping with his 
record. 

CONCLUSION. 

And now a few words in conclusion and I am through with a subject that 
to me has been both painful and distasteful , but into the discussion of which I 
was, without warrant, provoked. It will be necessary for me to state here, 
what before has not been made public. The letter of Dr. Holt's, published in 
the Virginian of Sunday, September 10th, 1882, had been received during my 



25 

absence from the city, and had been opened by the business manager of the 
Virginian, who on my return referred it to me, stating at the time, the purport 
of the communication, viz : that it was a report of Lamb's speech at Surry 
Courthouse, which the correspondent had denounced as infamous. I hurriedly 
glanced over the letter, and not making out the signature of the writer I threw 
it aside, in conformity with a rule, that I have always adhered to, never to 
publish a communication, without a knowledge of the author and his respon- 
sibility. Two days afterwards, having a curiosity to read the letter more 
carefully, I picked it up, and then discovered that the author was Dr. M. Q. 
Holt, an influential citizen of Surry county, a gentleman responsible for his 
utterances. As the facts stated by him, were of such a character as to demand 
a publication, I turned the letter over to the printers prefacing it with a few 
lines, stating the delay of its publication, and alluding to it in a brief 
editorial. It will thus be seen, that my desire in this matter was to protect 
William Lamb from the attack of an irresponsible party, and that it was not 
until I knew that the writer was responsible for what he wrote, that I pub- 
lished the communication that brought forth from Lamb his infamous and 
cowardly card. I say, infamous and cowardly, for he well knew the author 
of the communication in the Virginian when he penned his card, and if he 
had not known him, he was well aware that by simply requesting his name 
he could have secured it without a moment's hesitation. But such was not 
his desire. He cunningly sought for cheap notoriety, by pocketing what he 
admitted to be in effect a deliberate insult, and in return denouncing the 
writer of the communication who lived fifty or sixty miles from the city, and 
at the same time, aware that I was no duelist, in the maliciousness of his 
cold-blooded nature, he coupled myself in his denunciations, who in boy- 
hood, and youth, and manhood, had been his friend. He took this course, 
with the expectation, that I would attack him on the streets, when as a 
result, an arrest would be made, and both would be put under bonds to 
keep the peace. Then he would be safe from all responsibility to Dr. Holt, 
and all attack on his record would be silenced. Seeing through his scheme, 
I determined in defiance of his attrocious threat, (all the more so, because 
coining from one who claims to be a Christian, and who is the Chief Magistrate 
of a city,) upon the course I should pursue, and published "A paper, which 
includes a sketch of two lives, and a reply to a card." 

My action, I am gratified to know, has been approved by all right think- 
ing men, irrespective of party* nationality or creed, for among those who 
have been warmest in their kind words of approval are many who belong to 
the party which William Lamb;* not for principle, but for self, has allied 
himself with. Most gratifying to me, also, has been the kind and friendly 
letters received from all sections of the Commonwealth, and from various 
sections of the country, approving my course. Need I remark, that these 
evidences of generous approval shall be always treasured. With the decla- 
ration that I have no malice to the man who had basely attempted to 
defame me, I close my review of his reply. 

M. GLENNAN. 



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